Saratoga senior-services nonprofit outlines growth, programs and warns of county funding risk

Successful Aging Solutions and Community Consulting (doing business as Sassy and legally the Saratoga Area Senior Coordinating Council) gave a detailed update to the Saratoga City Council on the organization’s services, recent growth and potential budget pressures.

Samuel Leal, Sassy’s operations manager, told the council that two survey data points shaped the group’s 2025 work: “30% of Saratoga residents are providing some form of caregiving to someone who’s over the age of 50,” and “47 percent of Saratoga residents have a challenge accessing affordable, healthy foods.” Those findings, Leal said, drove programming including the launch of the Sassy-certified farmers market, which “in the 3 months that we had the market open, we saw, roughly 1,500 people come and and attend the market.”

Leal described operational changes at Sassy’s adult care program that reduced onboarding time and introduced evidence-based activities. He also said Sassy will showcase a student-led renovation proposal for the adult care center and host a donor night on Thursday, April 16, where the West Valley College design team will present their concepts.

Tyler Taylor, Sassy’s chief executive, discussed the organization’s transportation program (RIDE), saying “last year, we provided 1,800 rides to Saratoga residents, and approximately 84 of those riders are low income.” Taylor said the group hopes to electrify its small fleet and will “be applying for a grant this year, for actually electrifying all 4 of our vehicles.” He added that Sassy plans to use a third-party, white-labeled app for ride scheduling and payments rather than building software in-house.

On funding, Taylor flagged possible Santa Clara County budget changes that could affect the program. He said county support has been modest relative to the whole county budget — “only $320,000 out of the county’s general fund” was cited in the presentation — and added that Sassy receives roughly $160,000 (which it shares in contract arrangements with partner agencies). Taylor said Sassy will advocate to retain county contracts and described a contingency of shifting toward consulting contracts should direct-service county funding be reduced.

Council members asked operational questions and offered support. One councilor asked for current membership totals; Steven Pinon, Sassy’s senior center events coordinator, said Sassy had added 22 new members since July and reported “total, we’re about at 400.” Councilors also pressed on vehicle electrification timelines and the planned app; Leal and Taylor said the app would be provided by a third-party vendor with reporting and payment back-end functionality.

Leal and Taylor framed the work as a campus-centered approach, tying the senior center, adult care center and farmers market together as a hub of services. They also noted partnerships with West Valley College and West Valley Community Services on programming, workforce and shared funding arrangements.

The council closed the public comment period with no in-person or online speakers and adjourned the session.

The next procedural step noted in the meeting was the donor night presentation on April 16; Sassy said it will continue outreach to preserve county funding and pursue grants to support electrification and app implementation.